🎙 Cozy Chaos — “Hobbies: More Than Just Free Time”

Host: Michael Swetly

Guests: Kirill Kambulatov, Nastya Byshenko

We live in a world that constantly asks one simple question: “What do you do?”

Not who you are. Not what makes you feel alive. But what you produce, earn, and can explain in one sentence. Somewhere between deadlines, notifications, and responsibilities, there is a quiet, stubborn space called a hobby — something we do without pressure, without clear goals, and often without an audience. And yet, these moments feel deeply necessary.

In this episode of Cozy Chaos, we talk about hobbies not as productivity tools or self-improvement strategies, but as human rituals. Why do we need them? Why do adults feel guilty for enjoying things that aren’t “useful”? Can hobbies regulate our emotions, protect our inner freedom, or even help us survive overwhelming reality? And what happens when joy turns into work, visibility, or expectation?

Together with Kirill Kambulatov and Nastya Byshenko, we explore hobbies as spaces where time isn’t optimized, value isn’t measured, and identity can exist without performance. We talk about escapism and recovery, boredom and creativity, digital communities and lost solitude, forgotten hobbies we grieve, and the quiet rebellion of choosing joy without justification.

This is a warm, honest conversation about play, curiosity, and the parts of ourselves that don’t need to lead anywhere to matter.

Hobbies don’t ask us to be productive.

They ask us to be present.

And in a world obsessed with outcomes, doing something just because you love it might be one of the most human acts left.

🎙 Cozy Chaos — “Why Do Dreams Exist, and What Do They Reveal About Us?” Host: Michael Swetly Guests: Madina Beikenova, Nastya Byshenko Every night something strange happens to us. We close our eyes — and reality quietly steps aside. Logic loosens its grip, time bends, familiar people appear in impossible places, emotions speak louder than words. Dreams feel deeply personal and completely uncontrollable at the same time. We don’t choose them, we don’t fully understand them — and yet they return almost every night, like private messages written by a version of us that only exists in sleep. In this episode of Cozy Chaos, we talk about dreams not as symbols from a book and not as strict psychology, but as lived experiences. Why do dreams exist at all? Why do some disappear the moment we wake up, while others stay with us for years? Why do dreams sometimes feel more honest than real life? And what do they quietly reveal about who we are — or who we are becoming? We explore dreams as emotional processing, as a space where feelings speak in images instead of words. We talk about whether dreams tell the truth, why fear and anxiety appear so often at night, and why certain dreams feel “important” even if we can’t explain them. We touch on memory and time, on how dreams mix childhood, loss, the present, and imagined futures into a single moment. We reflect on nightmares, lucid dreaming, control, and whether dreams are meant to be directed — or simply experienced. And we look at dreams as a source of creativity, where ideas are born without permission or logic. With me in this quiet, intimate conversation are Madina Beikenova and Nastya Byshenko — people who know how to listen carefully to inner worlds, hidden meanings, and the space between logic and emotion. Together, we don’t try to decode dreams or turn them into instructions. We let them remain what they are: reflections, sometimes messy, sometimes beautiful, sometimes unsettling — but always honest in their own strange language. This episode of Cozy Chaos is a soft, unhurried exploration of the inner night. A reminder that we are deeper than our schedules, larger than our routines, and more emotional than we usually allow ourselves to be. Tonight, when you fall asleep, don’t rush to understand your dreams. Just let them speak. They already know your language.

🎙 Cozy Chaos — “Games. Why Do We Need Them?” Host: Michael Swetly Guest: Gabriel Boos Games quietly entered our lives — and never really left. What started as pixels, beeps, and simple rules slowly became entire worlds. Places where people live second lives, build identities, fail, restart, and feel real emotions. In this episode of Cozy Chaos, we’re not talking about games as entertainment or products. We’re talking about why humans need games at all. Why games feel comforting. Why effort in games feels more meaningful than effort in real life. Why modern games turned into endless worlds. And where the line is between healthy play and quiet escape. 🎮 In this episode: — What a game really is (beyond fun) — Why modern games became worlds, not experiences — Games as emotional training grounds — Failure, progress, and control — Graphics, realism, and immersion — Identity, avatars, and self-expression — When games help — and when they start to hurt — Streaming culture and watching others play — Games as cultural and emotional memory 🎤 Guest: Gabriel Boos — someone who understands games not just as software, but as systems, experiences, and emotional spaces. This is a calm, honest conversation about games as mirrors of modern life. Not judgmental. Not technical. Human. 🔥 Cozy Chaos is where warmth meets complexity — where we talk slowly about things that shape us quietly. We don’t play games to escape life. We play them to understand it a little better.

In the thirteenth episode of the Cozy Chaos podcast, host Michael Swetly sits down with Anel Asher to explore one of the deepest dualities shaping the human experience — order and chaos, the two quiet forces that build our world, break it, rebuild it again, and somehow keep us moving. Order is the promise we make to ourselves: “If I arrange everything just right, maybe life will finally make sense.” It’s lists, calendars, structure, clean surfaces, predictable days… Order feels safe — like a room where nothing unexpected can enter. Chaos is the opposite. It’s the sudden question that changes your plans. The emotion you didn’t expect. The moment that arrives too early or too late. The conversation you weren’t ready for. Chaos feels wild — but real. It disrupts, but it also awakens. You can’t live fully in one or the other. Order gives direction. Chaos gives possibility. Together, they create life. This episode dives into that invisible dance — the soft negotiation between stability and surprise, structure and spontaneity, clarity and uncertainty. Together, Michael and Anel explore: why humans crave order even though life refuses to stay organized how chaos creates growth, creativity, and emotional evolution why the mind breaks without structure — but the soul breaks without freedom how “too much order” becomes a quiet form of fear why chaos feels scary even when it’s necessary how unexpected moments reveal who we actually are why creativity, art, and love are impossible without a little mess and whether balance is something we find… or something we constantly rebuild They talk about human psychology, emotional patterns, the architecture of meaning, control, surrender, inner storms, clean pages, messy hearts, and the strange comfort of not knowing what happens next. It’s a warm, thoughtful, gently philosophical conversation — the kind you listen to at night with a soft lamp on, where the world feels big but peaceful, and where disorder doesn’t seem like an enemy… but like a quiet companion. A reminder that life doesn’t want perfect lines. It wants movement. And sometimes the most important truth is simply: we need chaos to stay alive — and we need order to stay human.

In the twelfth episode of the Cozy Chaos podcast, host Michael Swetly gathers with Mauro Martines and Mitchell Lupi to explore one of the most mysterious forces in human life — timing, the quiet pulse behind every moment we call random. Life rarely gives warnings. There’s no soft vibration that says, “Something important is about to happen.” No gentle pop-up reminding you that today is the day everything will shift. You’re simply living: grabbing a coffee, losing your keys, running late, scrolling through noise, trying to keep up — when suddenly a moment steps into your path and rewrites your direction. A stranger says the exact sentence you needed. An accident turns into clarity. A delay becomes protection. A coincidence feels too perfect to ignore. We call these things randomness. But they feel like choreography. This episode dives into that quiet choreography — the soft geometry of moments arriving exactly when they need to. Together, Michael, Mauro, and Mitchell explore: why timing feels invisible until it’s already shaped your life how tiny, forgettable moments become turning points in hindsight why intuition often senses timing long before logic does how “bad timing” becomes one of the most honest teachers why coincidences feel like messages we didn’t know we were waiting for how near-misses create the ghost versions of our lives and whether timing is something we choose… or something that gently chooses us They talk about emotional clocks, unseen rhythms, gut feelings, missed chances, perfect seconds, and all the strange soft patterns that guide our stories. It’s a warm, slow-burning, late-night kind of conversation — the kind you listen to with dim lights, where every moment feels like it’s arriving at the exact second you need it. A reminder that life doesn’t move randomly. It moves rhythmically. And sometimes the most important message is simply: this happened now for a reason.

In the eleventh episode of the Cozy Chaos podcast, host Michael Swetly sits down with Anel Asher to explore one of the quietest, most underestimated forces shaping our lives:

language — the invisible architecture behind everything we think, feel, and understand.

You don’t notice language the way you notice weather or mood shifts.

There’s no alarm that says, “You’re using metaphors again.”

No alert that pops up when your inner voice switches languages.

Yet every moment — from arguing with reality to comforting yourself — happens through words you barely notice.

This episode approaches language not as a school subject or a communication tool,

but as a kind of soft magic — a lens, a filter, a map of meaning we’re all carrying without reading the instructions.

Together, Michael and Anel talk about:

why language is less a tool and more a filter that shapes what we believe is real

how different cultures feel different emotions because their languages carve emotions differently

why many languages make humanity wiser, not more chaotic

how switching languages unlocks different versions of ourselves

why some words strike deeper in one language and feel empty in another

how technology might reshape language — and why humans will still protect beauty and nuance

why losing a language feels like losing a piece of history and identity

the strange moment before a thought becomes a word — and why some feelings stay nameless for years

and the idea that language doesn’t just help us speak to others…

it helps us finally speak to ourselves.

It’s a warm, thoughtful, emotionally rich conversation — the kind that feels like opening a secret door inside your mind and finding entire landscapes you never stopped to name.

A soft, late-night, page-rustling kind of episode — the kind that reminds you:

language isn’t something we use…

it’s something that quietly becomes us.

The 10th Episode of the live podcast Cozy Chaos is available now!

In the tenth episode of the Cozy Chaos podcast, host Michael Swetly sits down with Nastya Byshenko to explore one of the strangest mysteries of life: adulthood — the moment that never really happens, yet somehow happens to all of us.

You don’t wake up with a diploma in “being an adult.”

There’s no ceremony, no soundtrack, no warning.

One day you just realize that buying a washing machine feels like an investment…

and saying “let’s meet after work” feels like planning a military operation.

This episode dives into adulthood not through bills and taxes, but through feelings — the messy, confusing, unexpectedly beautiful ones.

A soft, rainy, tea-stirring kind of episode — the kind that reminds you:

maybe adulthood isn’t the end of childhood…

maybe it’s just the quieter sequel.

In the ninth episode of the Cozy Chaos podcast, Michael Swetly sits down with Nastya Byshenko, Viktoria Shcherbitskaia, and Gabriel Boos to explore “The Moments When Everything Changes.”

Life often feels steady — until one choice, one event, or even one word turns everything upside down. Together, they reflect on childhood turning points, small decisions with big consequences, the weight of crises, the role of intuition, and the courage it takes to say yes or no.

Are the biggest changes sudden like lightning, or slow like water shaping stone? And can we ever truly prepare for the next turning point?

This episode is a thoughtful mix of stories, debates, and reflections — filled with the signature warmth and unpredictability of cozy chaos.

In the eighth episode of the Cozy Chaos podcast, Michael Swetly is joined by Henry Hablow, Olena Stradishevskaya, and Viktoria Shcherbitskaia to explore a metaphor: the soundtrack of our lives.

What does life sound like when we stop to listen? Childhood may echo with laughter and chaos, love may feel like a steady rhythm, heartbreak like a note cut off too soon. Success, failure, routine, and even silence — each stage of life carries its own hidden vibration.

Together, they reflect on turning points, everyday rhythms, travel, relationships, and the way communities create their own shared songs. The conversation drifts from playful memories to honest stories of struggle, asking: Do we compose our own soundtrack, or does life play it for us?

This episode is a flowing journey of metaphors, warmth, and reflection — a reminder that life is never silent, and even the quietest moments have their own music.

In the seventh episode of the Cozy Chaos podcast, Michael Swetly, Patty Srisuwan, and Shugyla Sagynbekova ask: “What does success really mean — and is it the same for everyone?”

Is success about money, fame, and recognition? Or about peace of mind, love, and the small victories no one else notices? Together, they wander through stories of failure as teachers, cultural differences in ambition, and the fragile balance between happiness and achievement.

Can success be universal, or is it always personal — like a fingerprint, unique to each life? This episode is a thoughtful journey filled with playful debates, honest reflections, and the signature warmth of cozy chaos.